Drum Break Severely Jammed, Help!?

[HungerGames]

Hello,
My Passenger side drum break is severely jammed. I need some advise on how to loosen the spin wheel, not remove the drum break.
What Happened: Back home in the East I serviced all my breaks including bleeding the break lines. I put new brake shoes in both rear drum breaks and afterwards there wasn't a problem. Then... I drive my rig back to CA (2000 miles, some through steep mountain terrain). A day after getting back home in CA my car started driving weird, then my E Brake stopped pulling up all the way. I jack the back of my car up and sure enough my passenger side rear wheel is 100% stuck, my E Brake is not engaged and this wheel wont spin even slightly. I tried to go in an loosen the drum brake's spin wheel from the little oval hole, but it wont budge (and yes I moved the adjusting arm out of the way).
I'm rather sure that somewhere along the road trip my fresh brake shoes over compensated (maybe got too hot?) therefore causing the spin wheel to jam the shoes too far out, constantly pushing hard against the drum. I mean - I can park on a hill without my E Brake engaged my car wont move (She's a 3rd gen manual).
Sorry I went on for so long... Any ideas on how to force this baby loose? Or will I maybe have to force off the drum itself....Which I'd really hate to do, Agaaaiiin! :Cry::Cry:

 

[danmac]

I would just pull the drum off that way I can inspect everything and find out why it happend in the first place

 

[LittleCaesar]

See if you can rotate the adjuster wheel to loosen the tension of the drum brakes using a dedicated brake spoon or flat head again first.

If not, take two M8x1.25 x 2" hex bolts and thread them into the two dedicated thread holes on the drum. Turn them until they hit the backing plate. Then with a long ratchet, begin to torque them down against the backing plate, ultimately popping off the drum. Switch up torquing down the bolts every revolution (360 degrees) so that the pressure is evenly applied. A BFH may help as well.

What year is your 4runner?

 

[Ducmonsta]

I have to assume here that the cables are loose. Meaning, you can pull the parking brake cable from underneath the truck. Check the "y" connection of the parking brake cables (where your front cable meets both rears). If all seems good there, then the problem is most likely inside your drums. Here's a stupid question. Did you put the correct shoes on each side? There is a front and rear shoe.

And, last but not least....

I volunteer as tribute!

 

[fourwd1]

I would just pull the drum off that way I can inspect everything and find out why it happend in the first place

If he could get the brake drum off, he wouldn't have posted to begin with.

 

[fourwd1]

If its as stuck as you say you may have to pry the drum off, and it won't be easy.
Your best bet is to keep trying to loosen them up by turning the star adjustment wheel.
Also, if its that stuck and you try the jack screw method suggested above, don't be surprised if the threads in the holes strip out.

 

[nevada]

See if you can rotate the adjuster wheel to loosen the tension of the drum brakes using a dedicated brake spoon or flat head again first.

If not, take two M8x1.25 x 2" hex bolts and thread them into the two dedicated thread holes on the drum. Turn them until they hit the backing plate. Then with a long ratchet, begin to torque them down against the backing plate, ultimately popping off the drum. Switch up torquing down the bolts every revolution (360 degrees) so that the pressure is evenly applied. A BFH may help as well.

What year is your 4runner?

this method would likely work. but if they are stuck as he says, it will ruin the hardware, and possibly the drum itself.

If its as stuck as you say you may have to pry the drum off, and it won't be easy.
Your best bet is to keep trying to loosen them up by turning the star adjustment wheel.
Also, if its that stuck and you try the jacks few method suggested above, don't be surprised if the threads in the holes strip out.

yes, this is what needs done.

you need to get in there and turn the adjuster in, to take the pressure off the shoes. you said you did this already, but it either wasn't enough, or you didn't go the correct direction, otherwise the shoes would have loosened up.

 

[danmac]

If he could get the brake drum off, he wouldn't have posted to begin with.

My Passenger side drum break is severely jammed. I need some advise on how to loosen the spin wheel, not remove the drum break


Any ideas on how to force this baby loose? Or will I maybe have to force off the drum itself....Which I'd really hate to do, Agaaaiiin!

He said he didn't want to take it off he is asking about adjusting it. I would take it off to find out what happened to make the wheel do it in the first place

Thanks for trying to call me out

 

[HungerGames]

See if you can rotate the adjuster wheel to loosen the tension of the drum brakes using a dedicated brake spoon or flat head again first.

If not, take two M8x1.25 x 2" hex bolts and thread them into the two dedicated thread holes on the drum. Turn them until they hit the backing plate. Then with a long ratchet, begin to torque them down against the backing plate, ultimately popping off the drum. Switch up torquing down the bolts every revolution (360 degrees) so that the pressure is evenly applied. A BFH may help as well.

What year is your 4runner?

My 4runner is a 2000. I haven't messed with it sine I posted this, I suppose I'll try again with the adjuster wheel and if that doesn't work force off the drum . I really hate dealing with drum brakes :/

 

[HungerGames]

I have to assume here that the cables are loose. Meaning, you can pull the parking brake cable from underneath the truck. Check the "y" connection of the parking brake cables (where your front cable meets both rears). If all seems good there, then the problem is most likely inside your drums. Here's a stupid question. Did you put the correct shoes on each side? There is a front and rear shoe.

And, last but not least....

I volunteer as tribute!

Yes, I definitely put the shoes on the the correct sides. Everything with my e-brake cables seem fine. I'm so confused by how this happened, I guess I am gonna have to wrestle off that drum again to find out.

 

[HungerGames]

If its as stuck as you say you may have to pry the drum off, and it won't be easy.
Your best bet is to keep trying to loosen them up by turning the star adjustment wheel.
Also, if its that stuck and you try the jack screw method suggested above, don't be surprised if the threads in the holes strip out.

Well Crap, and yes you're right. If I could have gotten off the drum easily I (a she not a he) wouldn't have posted this. I was hoping someone had maybe an awesome trick or type of strong tool they use to loosen that adjusting wheel. I literally snapped one of my screw drivers trying - granted it wasn't a very high quality one.... Forcing off the drum isn't going to be fun, it is beyond jammed but I guess I'm gonna have to do it.

 

[HungerGames]

Thanks everyone for your advice. Tomorrow when the weathers warmer I'm gonna first buy a much stronger screwdriver and give it another try with the spin wheel. If that doesn't work I'm doomed to force that damn drum off (I have already tried taking it off but it won't budge). I'll keep everyone posted .

P.S. I'm sure some of you are wondering if I was trying to turn the spin wheel in the right direction, and yes I was. I also had the adjusting arm pushed off the wheel and out of the way.
I really just don't like drum brakes :/ I wish 4runners had disc brakes all around.

 

[gm350reratliff]

Even the 4th gens (and probably 5th gens) have disc brakes but still have a drum brake setup for the e-brake.

Try hammering around the drum to break the shoe free. Take out any and all rubber plugs from the backing plate and try to pry the shoes free. Sounds like the brake shoe material came off and became jammed. Try spinning the wheel backwards if it jammed going forward, spin it forward if it jammed going backwards.

I had an older chevy that did this going down the freeway (not to long after a brake job as well). It was so jammed, I had to take a torch and cut the backing plate to free the brake shoes. It ruined the drum, shoes, brake springs, wheel cylinder, and tire. Plus I had to find a backing plate. Don't buy cheap shoes.

 

[Jon]

Sounds like your wheel cylinder has gone fully extended and the piston fell out jamming the shoes. That, I'm sorry to say, would be to impropper adjustment.

That little springloaded keeper plate is your problem. Use a small screw driver to push and hold it back, then you can perform the loosening. Which once you have the screw driver in, place it on the underside of the adjustment wheel and pull up.

Without pushing that plate back it will be nearly impossible to loosen it. Try spraying some WD-40 or PB Blaster on it.

Once you get it figured out and you're ready to adjust, make sure the tire is off the ground, in neutral, e-brake off, tighten it up till the shoes are just making contact then yank hard on the e-brake cable a few times. Give the wheel another spin and listen for the contact. If it had gone away tighten a couple notches then yank on the cable some more. Repeate as necessary.

Are there any leaks visible? Might have blown an axle seal. You will smell it too. This will lock up the brakes and ruin the nice new shoes.

Good luck. Nothing better than a chick that's not afraid to turn wrenches!

 

[HungerGames]

Fixed! Update

Okay Guys, So I finally wrestled off the drum break and fixed her.... It Was Not Fun :mad2: . I still can't even say what happened for sure, everything was put together properly and no leaks or anything wrong with the brake pistons in there or brake lines or E-Brake!! So as you can imagine I am just as stumped as any of you on this one. I re-adjusted the drum brake properly and have been driving her for a few weeks since then with no problems.... I don't know how it happened but it's fixed now. Next I'll be replacing valve cover gaskets, should be fun! I'll post a photo album of it .